Crowdfunding IS the future of Finance for Supplier Diversity.

We believe that small, medium and diverse businesses should have an equal opportunity to access the capital they need to grow and compete. When diverse communities are strengthened, robust job creation and economic growth is the result.

Crowdfunding has the ability to bring a new pool of billions of investment dollars into minority-, woman-, disability-, service-disabled veterans, and LGBT-owned businesses and startups.

Crowdfunding is a crucial funding method for new and established businesses, and a medium that levels the playing field for those who might not have access to, nor the requirements for other forms of financing from traditional channels. Crowdfunding isn’t randomly asking for money. It entails building a well-thought-out crowdfunding campaign, based on a sound strategy and solid execution while inviting the crowd to be a part of your journey and share in your success.

With a proper ecosystem of crowdfunding technology, education and training, startups and growing enterprises can raise the capital they need, scale up and compete in today’s world.

To that end, the 6th Annual Global Crowdfunding Convention ( GCC ) and CrowdfundingCRM.com are committed to bringing proven crowdfunding education from world-class experts, and within our CFCRM technology and crowdfunding task and action planning tool, to enable the world of supplier diversity. We are starting that journey with a sponsorship and partnership with Fernando Hernandez Director of Supplier Diversity at Microsoft to help expand crowdfunding education to more women, minorities, and veterans.

“Our commitment to diversity will also raise awareness across the entire Supplier diversity and crowdfunding industry and will provide a path for underrepresented entrepreneurs to succeed and create their piece of the American dream.

We believe that crowdfunding investing in underrepresented entrepreneurs can yield new ideas, markets, and revenue streams that others have overlooked. We look forward to continuing to work together now and long into the future ” said Ruth Hedges, CEO and Founder of the Global Crowdfunding Convention ( GCC ) and crowdfundingCRM.com

Thousands of new crowdfunding campaigns in (rewards, donation, and equity) are launched every day around the world, and millions of people fund those campaigns to the tune of billions of dollars. But despite seismic growth, the fact remains that millions of people who really need Crowdfunding, especially minority-, woman-, disability-, service-disabled veterans, and LGBT-owned businesses and startups who are involved in Supplier Diversity Programs have never heard of it and don’t know how to use it to achieve financial success.

But we can change that.

Our goal is to continue to reach out to the widest audience possible, inspiring and educating those new to Crowdfunding so they can bring new products to life and inject much-needed capital into already established small and medium sized businesses. As America enters uncharted waters with social safety net programs threatened, we will all need to call on crowdfunding to provide help to those people who will surely suffer.

Crowdfunding showcases the best of our humanity. And it demonstrates the potential to bring together people from all backgrounds and beliefs to work for our common good. Now more than ever, with trillions of dollars in the control of 350 million newly empowered Americans, we can create the country we want to live in as crowdfunding becomes a bigger part of our spending and investing DNA.

New businesses are popping up every day. In fact, an estimated 550,000 open up each month just in the United States. Of these businesses, approximately 40% are launched by women who are launching businesses at six times the national average. Of these female entrepreneurs, African-American women are the fastest growing demographic.

Since 2007, more than 1,000 female-owned businesses have opened their doors daily and their hiring has grown consistently, even when that of male-owned small businesses have not.Women run businesses in a more capital-efficient manner than men. Their startups fail less frequently; they have higher revenues, and; organizations that include more women have higher returns on equity. If women can’t get access to capital, then those benefits will be capped and we all lose.

Research has shown that women entrepreneurs received less than 10% of the $60 billion dollars of VC funding deployed in 2015. According to a recent survey conducted by LinkedIn, only 5% of decision makers at venture firms and institutional investors are women. But have no fear, Crowdfunding is here and so far 65% of technology companies and projects posted by women on Kickstarter were funded, compared to 30% for men.

Get ready for disruption and enter the world of equity Crowdfunding, a unique process that provides game-changing strategies that will advance economic equality in this country and which provides companies the opportunity to access capital from average Americans as outlined in the JOBs Act of 2012.

So whether you’re a seasoned investor, corporate executive, supplier diversity professional or a minority and/or women-owned business entrepreneur seeking to start or grow your own company, understanding the intersection of Crowdfunding and supplier diversity can give you crucial knowledge and new ideas on how to seize this amazing opportunity to invest, or to raise capital for your business in the face of our changing times.

Ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to financially outperform those that are not, according to research firm McKinsey, and investing in under-served markets is an opportunity for attractive returns that we can now all share in by investing into ethnically diverse equity crowdfunding offerings.

This is also a boon to the new equity crowdfunding industry because there is a pipeline of minority-owned companies in a wide range of sectors that could use this to raise capital and that would provide much more deal flow for the new equity crowdfunding industry.

We encourage these diverse businesses to attend our crowdfunding convention and to follow up that experience with the use of our crowdfunding CRM.com technology where they can learn and get prepared to use crowdfunding for their own businesses now and long into the future.

Crowdfunding investment will redefine supplier diversity and its access-to-capital programs. At the GCC, we believe we have the power to change our communities for the better by contributing to the economic strength of our local communities, investing in business growth, and partnering to make a difference where we live and work.

We are cultivating partnerships with diverse organizations that share our commitment to diversity and inclusion and access to capital. Please contact me for more information.